Seib & Wessel: What We’re Reading Friday

Economist Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers), noting a new Commerce Department estimate that U.S. prices fell by 0.1% in the second quarter, says the risk of deflation is greater than the risk of explosive inflation. For that reason, he argues that the Federal Reserve should be pushing the monetary lever towards easier credit, not talking about pulling it the other way. [Bloomberg]

Mark Bergen (@mhbergen) profiles Raghu Rajan, the University of Chicago professor (and son, it turns out, of a high-level Indian government spy) who was recently named head of India’s central bank — in part because the government needed a big name to avoid a big-time currency crisis. The job, says one economist-friend, is “a crown of thorns.” [Caravan]

Ron Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) writes that “a climate of polarization” in Congress has helped empower Sen. Ted Cruz after only months in office: “Polarization undercuts congressional centrists, who exert influence by finding compromises and closing deals. But centrists can’t deliver either outcome when the parties are committed to perpetual conflict.” [National Journal]

Peggy Noonan (@Peggynoonannyc) writes that the biggest takeaway from this week’s U.N. session is that President Barack Obama — and to an extent, America — has become irrelevant on the world stage. Diplomats who long for the days of American world leadership have begun to wonder if the country is capable of getting it back, she says. [WSJ]

An alliance of conservation groups, working with the Clinton Global Initiative, plans an international push to stop a dramatic rise in poaching of elephants, which claimed 35,000 elephants last year. The poaching is being driven by a rise in demand for elephant tusks, and the trade is even suspected to have helped finance terrorist groups. [Time]

Ashlee Vance (@valleyhack) profiles perhaps the most inspiring woman in high-tech today: Ramona Pierson, who was nearly killed in a 1984 car accident that put her in a coma for 18 months and left her blind. She recently started her second company, Declara, a business-oriented social-networking platform. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

Much of what U.S. experts said about the immediate danger from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear meltdown was wrong and exaggerated, Paul Blustein (@PaulBlustein) says after a meticulous review. Nonetheless, media coverage of U.S. concerns nonetheless undermined Japanese public trust in their own government with long lasting implications. [Slate]

It isn’t just politicians pursuing Hispanics: The NFL is engaged in a broad marketing push to draw in Hispanic fans, one that has made the league the only one in America that televises all its games in Spanish. [Forbes]

In a poll that split respondents into two groups, asked about “Obamacare,” 46% said they had negative feelings and 12% didn’t know enough to say; asked about the “Affordable Care Act,” 37% were negative and 30% didn’t know enough to say. [CNBC]

About 36% of end-of-life spending and 17% of all U.S. health-care spending are associated with physician beliefs that are unsupported by clinical evidence, Dartmouth and Harvard health economists say, based on patient and physician surveys linked to Medicare data. [NBER]

Nineteen provincial governments in China collected a total of $2.7 billion in fines last year from parents who had violated one-child, family-planning laws. [New York Times]

Private foundations enjoyed a 12% return on endowments in 2012 as stock and bond markets rose, versus a decline of 0.7% in 2011, says Council on Foundations. [WSJ]

North Dakota had the biggest per capita increase (9.5%) in beer consumption in 2012 of all the states. Per capita consumption fell in 20 states. [Bloomberg]

Despite a slowdown, China’s economy is still growing at the pace of one India every two years, note former Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill. [Bloomberg]

Trust in all three branches of federal government is slipping: 62% said they have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the judicial branch, 51% in the executive and 34% in the legislative. [Gallup]

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.